(reblogged from Nicholas Rossis)

 

Continuing my infatuation with maps, I came across this fine 16th-century example of a cartographer’s imagination running wild in an excellent post by Urvija Banerji of Atlas Obscura.

 

 

 

 

The creatures depicted on land in the 16th-century Carta Marina are not particularly unusual: the map’s lands contain knights on horseback, wild boars and bears climbing trees. The west side of the map, however, shows a much more fanciful plethora of wildlife. Cartographer Olaus Magnus created the Carta Marina above while staying in Rome, between the years 1527 and 1539.

 

However, Magnus was originally from Sweden and chose to depict the Nordic countries in his map. The Carta Marina was one of the most precise depictions of any part of Europe at the time. Which is more than can be said about its portrayal of the oceans. As you can see, the northern seas are filled to the brim with all kinds of aquatic monsters. Some maps of the era depicted dragons to metaphorically indicate uncertainties or dangers in a region.

 

But the Carta Marina’s mythological sea creatures were thought to really exist at the time Magnus drew them. He even identified each creature in the map’s key. You can take a closer look at some of them below.

 

Magnus described this creature as a whale whose skin resembled the sand on a seashore. An English ship is depicted as having laid anchor on the whale, and two unwitting sailors are cooking a meal on its rump.

Read the rest of the post here.

Musiville: Let's face the music and... c... Musiville, authored by Nicholas C. Rossis and illustrated Dimitris Fousekis, is a book about some incredible creatures! Within these pages are a group of animals, intertwined with musical instruments. It's an interesting little book, full of creativity and imagination. Not only does it introduce the reader to all sorts of interesting animals, it also presents them all sorts of interesting instruments. The illustrations are brilliant and really convey a great sense of artistic style from the illustrator, visualising the interesting animals of the story. At the end of the book, we even get introduced to each of the creatures and a little bit about them. My favourite is the Pandiano! Overall, it's a brilliant little book!

I read my copy for free on: http://nicholasrossis.me
Edit: today on 28th January, 2016, I obtained a free copy from amazon.com.au

Runaway Smile - Nicholas C. Rossis,Dimit... I found Runaway Smile by Nicholas C. Rossis available online at the author's website. It's about a young boy who wakes up one morning and senses that something is different. It turns out that his smile is gone! As he gets ready for school, he searches. Yet, he cannot find it! On the way to school, he talks to the various people he meets and none of them are able to help him. You'd think that his teacher would be able to give some advice on the matter, but no, she can't solve his problem either. When he gets home, his mother gives him the solution and everything is alright.

Runaway smile features a strange little world, filled entirely of whimsical situations. Yet, it's centered around things that could happen to any sort of child; a boy who has lost his smile and turns to the people around him for help. All of the characters are very unique and have some sort of loveable aspect about them. My favourite is his encounter with the King ("He wants the King's head!"). The illustrations certainly enhance the book in epic proportions. Many of the characters are adorable and the scenes depicted certainly provide amusement.

This book was well drawn, well written and a great book overall! Definitely worth five stars!